Fluid-tight joint for water heaters



Jan. 5, 1932.

J. P. MORLEY ET AL FLUID'ATIGHT JOINT FOR WATER HEATERS Filed Sept. 8. 1927 lIo Yns

Patented Jan. 5, 1932 entre 'en"*,l'"r:.1afrI OFFICE JAMES r. Monter* AND. sIMoNmHLonEnGAN; or LA frnen; Innimvaassrenons; rro j eAsfrrAn-MORLEY COMPANY, or La roars, marianna coeroeArionor Inni-ANA rrinrmrrsrrr' .roinfr' ron YWATER-l HEATERs 1 i,

Our vinvention relates generally to fluid;`

tight joints for water-heaters and has todo particularly with establishing a fluid-tight joint between metallic Aheater membersfthat are intendedto be separated. on'occasions,.es pecially the joint between a detachable heatobsorption element andthe. water, storage tank with which such element directly.. comimunicates. A

In water heaters of `this character; it is highly desirable that various members-,and particularly the, heat .absorbing element,

which. may be referred toas a spreader;- be

detachably mounted in such .a..`w`ay. that they may be readily and quickly removed foncleaning or repairs or replacement. It .is also necessary, for obvious reasons,.that;thejoint between such members, and particularly t-lat between. the so-called: spreader and ta-n'krbe fluid-tight. It has heretofore.; 4been at;- tempted to accomplish the foregoing` by means of anordinary tapered or'other screw j thread connection only; however, this form of j connection. is not satisfactorybecause the acsv tion of.. the heat and water' and Vcorrosion causes the tightly fitting threadedaparts to freeze and become fixed to suchan extent that the members cannotbe detached without injury tothe parts, wherebymaintenancecost is greatly increasechtheflife Of'the'heater may be shortened and its, overall-efficiency may be. impaired. The lspreader joint particularly is generally located:atsuchzposition as to not be readily accessible to toolswhilch jsealed positienv of: Fig.y 2.

tight. regardless of the irregul:aritiefs'1 inthe I j o intsnrfaces. y

-.A'further object isto providea ywater heater of this character which isv highly eficient vin operation,v simple in construction,. and which may bereadilyand quicklyrepaired, andl in whichtheparts subject tolwear andldeterioration.may be.A readily' replacedsofthat the maintenance cost is reduced, toi'a minimum and`vmaximumv operating efficiency maybe maintained. over V long periods.l of time. y

Qtherobjects and. advantages will become apparent asthis description progresses 'and by' referencetothel drawings,4 whereinfV Figu'relJis a vertical section showing'fa porftion. of.` a. water heater' embodying our` invention; :Fig 2:Vis. an enlargeddetailed;sectional View. showing/the mannerzof attachment of the rspreader,toythe storage vtankyas well as lthe manner of sealing thejoint between these par-tsr;

the parts in afpartially assembled position jandfpni'oruto screwing the spreader 4toits Referring particularly. to ..the drawings showing one .form of.` ourv invention, the heater includes a. ltank of welleknowniforml having an. innerfwa-lll and an outer warl'l` .1 1 Qwith an insulating space 12 therebetween.`v Aconcave bottom: 13 is secured in ya. water'f-tight manner tothe innen wallv 10 by the downturned.y flanges 13a. The tank wallspreferably extend downwardly beyond, the .bottom 13 ,to-provide a :protectedspace forvmounting fthe heater 14C. and the spreader 15. therebeneatli,L The'tank islsupp'orted theusual V leg'sil'.' Cold water from the sourceis supy plied to the interior ofthe tank. through the pipeV 17j andv the hot wateris withdrawnin the usual manner from* the topo'f'thetan'k lthrough a'servi'ce pipe (not shown); The heater 141 is lsupplied with fuel', in thisfin stance gas, through an'inj'ector tube-'18, the

*fuel supply' being? controlled by an ordinary val-ve 19. or `any'other=desired 1means such as a thermostatic*contro'llv. y vTheV "spreader 15 preferably;vvv but not necessarily, .ofthe forlnzshown in Fig. vLand j is made of metal arranged for the desired heat absorption eliiciency. Tt is provided with a spreader chamber 15L adapted to con tain a small quantity of water and upon which the heat from the burner 14 directly acts. The spreader is also provided with the usual cone-shaped deector 2O connected at its top to a pipe 21 extending to a point near the top of the tank. This der'lector is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 1 and may be sup.

ported in the spreader in any desired manner. The spreader has its upper parteextended to form aV hollow kcylindrical and exteriorly threaded neck 22, and, at the base of the threaded portion, it is increased in thickness to form a shoulder 23, the upper edge Vof which is tapered to form a conical seat 24 for a purpose to be described later. This seat 24 is finished-to present a smooth and uniform bearing surface throughout.

The spreader 15 is carried by the tank bottom 13 Vwhich is provided with .a suitable central threaded opening adapted to receive awbushing '25 whichis threaded both internallj,T and externally. The external threads of this bushing are preferably tapered and bear such relation to the threads of the opening in'bottom 13 that as the bushing is screwed into place a tight joint is provided between the bushing and the tank bottom. This joint may, if desired7 be further sealed by white lead or other pipe cement.

`As stated hereinbefore, it is highly desirable that the 'spreader 15 be detachable at all times so that it may be readily and quickly removed for cleaning or repairs or replacement to insure the most eucient operation, and the joint between the spreader and the tank must be of a fluid-tight nature. We accomplis-h f this as follows: The internal threads of the bushing 25 as well as the threads Yon the neck 22 of the spreader may be'straight or tapered but loose fitting so as to provide a comparatively loose threaded and readily released connection. The threaded vjoint so formed is not of itself fluid-tight. The lower part of the bushing 25 is provided with'an outwardly extending circumferential flange 26 which has its lower and inner edge cut away Vat an angle as at 27 to present a sharp and single JLine seating surface 26a to the tapered seat 24 on the spreader. sembling the spreader, a gasket 28 of comparatively soft material, preferably copper (lead or other soft material may be used) is first .placed upon the spreader seat 24 in the manner shown in Fig. i3 and the spreader is then screwed into place to the position shown in Fig. 2. As the bowl is screwed into place,

the sharp edge 26a of the bushing flange 'first engages the upper surface'of the gasket 28 and, as this action is continued, the gasket 28 is pressed down on the tapered seat 24 and then stripped, so to speak, down over such In astapered seat surface so that it tits tightly and uniformly thereto. The sharp edge of the bushing 25 pierces the gasket and forms a single line contact entirely around the spreader seat. This arrangement, in addition to the stripping action above referred to, forms a tight seal between the bushing and the spreader and prevents escape of the water. This sealing action is also aided by the copper (or other gasket material) material being forced into intimate contact with the smooth seat surface and into the pores of the metal and low places on the seat by the stripping action and the direct action of the sharp edge of the bushing. Thisconstruction insures a uniform seating and sealing effect entirely around the spreader seat regardless of irregularities inthe spreader seat or the bushing. It will be readily seen that the loose threaded relation between the spreader neck and the bushing permits of ready detachment of the bowl at all times while the independent jointsealing means positively insures a fluid-tight joint between these parts at all times and does not in any way interfere with removal of the parts. This permits of ready removal of the spreader although the joint between it and the tank isnot readily accessible for the use oftools.

The operation of the heater will be readily understood. The cold water, which is admitted through pipe 1.7 and which is in the lower part of the tank, iiows downwardly throughthe bushing 25 and spreader inlet or neck 22 around the pipe 21 and to the under side of the cone-shaped deiiector 20. The position of the burner 14 is such that the flame therefrom plays upon the under side of the spreader' and quickly heats the small segregated quantity of water at that point. As this water is heated,'it circulates, due to expansion, through the pipe 21 to the top part of the tank, the 'heated water being replaced by tlie inflowing cold water as described. This action is continuous as long as the heater is'in operation. The lower part of the spreader 15 is provided with a threaded `extension v29 which is connected to a drain pipe controlled by a valve 31.

It is to be understood that, while we have described only one embodiment of our invention, we dofnot desire to be limited to the same as it is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention as deiined' in the claims which follow. For example, we have shown and described the internally threaded part 25 as a separate piece, but, if desired, it may be formed as 'an integral part ofv the bottom 13, or it may be a part permanently welded to such bottom and, in Veach instance, it may be formed 'flush with the inner part of the bottom or extend above the same as shown.

We claim:

l. In a water heater having a storage tank and a heating element, a partition dividing the tank into a water receptacle and a combustion chamber respectively, a conduit connection between said partition and element which comprises a hollow eXteriorly threaded member Xedly secured to the partition and normally non-rotatable therein, said hollow threaded member having an annular flange at its lower end provided with a'sharp edge on one face, an upwardlyextending threaded extension on said heating element adapted to loose-threadedly engage said threadedr member and having a conical surface, and a metallic gasket disposed between said flange sharp edge and said conical surface and of such character and so disposed that when said member and element are screwed together, said sharp edge is initially imbedded in and grips said gasket to turn said gasket upon said conical surface to wedge and strip the latter down, on and in intimate contact with said conical surface, said conduit connection being located within the combustion chamber and relatively inaccessible Vand being exposed to the heat from the heating element, the loose-threaded connection between the heating element extension and the hollow threaded member permitting the heating element to be readily unscrewed and detached for, cleaning or repair purposes without disturbing the threaded connection between the Y hollow member and the partition.

2. n a water heater having a storage tank with a combustion chamber therebeneath and having a water heating and circulating element in said combustion chamber adapted to be exposed directly to hot gases of combus tion from a heating means; means for connecting said element to said tank for water circulating communication therewith com` prising a hollow internally-threaded member having one end connected to said tank in said combustion chamber and so positioned as to be subjected to the heat of said hot gases of combustion, said hollow member having a lateraly projecting flange on its other end beveled to present an annular sharp edge, a hollow, eXteriorly-threaded extension on said element in water circulating communication therewith which is-also so positioned as toV be subjected to the heat of said hot gasesof combustion, said extension having an exterior conical surface and being adapted to loosethreadedly engage the interior thread'of said hollow member, a soft metallic gasket dis'- posed between said sharp edge and said conical surface and so related to said parts that when said hollow member andfprojection are screwed together said sharp edge is embedded in said gasket to strip the latter down over and into intimate seal contact with said con- `ical surface; said connected parts all being s tachment.

In testimony whereof, we have subscribed our names.

bustion and relatively inaccessible for de- 

